This term Year 10 GCE Music pupils have been looking at modern classical music like Minimalism and Electronic Music. To prepare for writing a minimalist piece of music they have completed a research based task that looks at the life and works of one modern composer. They have also began to develop some harmonic ideas. To help with this latter task they have been exploring harmony and timbre by writing a short Abstract piece of music using Propellerhead’s Reason 7. Here is their work with each pupil commenting on two of the pieces and making music comparisons between them.

22 thoughts on “Year 10 Abstract Music”

The two pieces Light as a feather and Level 99 are two such very contrasting peices of music. Light as a feather has a gradual build up and a quite pronounsed chord line which is very tonal. I think also that the chords were very well chosen as I could of heard them on a Phillip Glass album. The drum beat also fits the peice very well. The other peice of music Level 99 is very different. It starts of with electronic sounds and they carry on through out the peice. Part way through a violin starts playing a melodic motif while the chords are still going on under neith.

I thought the rainy weather piece sounded like a music for some kind of tango , it was good and had a steady soothing pulse unlike harpi funk drive that was faster and the instruments were very different than the other piece because it had traditional instruments but the harpi funk drive had electronic instruments as well as it was altogether shorter than rainy weather piece. In the rainy weather piece it contained an even change of chords but in the other one it was harder to identify.

the piece called mancy faced has a lot of layers whereas underworld has only one layer apart from a one part. Also mancy faced has different parts e.g. quieter parts and louder parts whereas the underworld is pretty much the same over the whole piece.

im comparing the pieces “Light As A Feather” and “Graveyard”.
the two pieces are both very tonal however Graveyard is quite loud and “heavy” and “light as a feather” is quite mellow and quiet and as it says in the title, “light”.
The Piece “Light as A Feather” has a ‘beaty’ build up however ‘Graveyard’ has more repitition but does add in more instruments creating a build up.

Light as a feather
I really like this piece due to the amount of experimentation used by the person. The melody and the bass line are both clear and work really well together yet there are extra layers that have been placed on the top of these lines to displace the rhythm. To make this piece even better, I would quantise the drum line so that it brings together the melody and the bass line even more together than it already is and possibly play more tracks at the same time to experiment with polyrhythms.

The two pieces i listened to were ‘Rainy Weather Piece’ and ‘Space’. Both abstract pieces include a rhythmic fragment which occurs throughout the entire duration. The use of synthesisers in ‘Space’ give the impression of a rocket zooming through space and the echo effects used on the piano in the melody create a sense of dimension and space (hence its title). ‘Rainy Weather Piece’ successfully uses dreary violins as its main instrument which acts as the water in the composition. Although contrasting in sound and structure, the two pieces sound equally as abstract and their titles sum up the piece accurately.

Rainy Weather Piece
I like this piece because it is brought together by the harmonic progression throughout the piece. All of the layers on top of each other make it sound fantastic and it sounds as if a lot of thought and emotion has been imputed through different sounds. I like how they have experimented however not overdone it to the point where there are too many layers. To make this piece better I would possibly make this piece a bit longer to bring out more emotion both in the listener and the musician/ artist

Green desert and level 99 both use experimental and irregular instruments, like glitch effects. They both have a lot of texture, however green desert has a more definable motif through the entire piece. Level 99 builds its texture slowly and uses reverb and delay effects.

i think that si-fi chase has a clear motif and builds up very slowly, it also is very tonal and when i am listening to it i feel like i am aboard a space ship! although on the other hand space drift does’nt have a clear motif but builds up slow and add different textures along the way. they both have mostly the same instruments and effects but with si-fi chase it really brings the beat in heavy with the drum kit added to make sure you can tell the bass is there!

Comparison between ‘Welcome to the revolution’ and ‘It’s got monks in it’
Both pieces start off by featuring a piano, but throughout ‘welcome to the revolution’ the instruments that are used change, giving a sense of metamorphosis throughout the piece. ‘It’s got monks in it starts with four chords, which are then developed and broken to create more texture, which is also contributed to by the build up of layers. ‘welcome to the revolution’ starts the same way with four chords. Multiple tracks are added to create a lot of texture, and similarly the chords are broken. the piece ends with just the piano and the last note is augmented.

The two pieces, Many Faced and Light as a Feather, are very different from each other in the way they are paced. Many Faced is a very fast paced pieced, with lots of layers. However, Light as a Feather is much slower paced, with fewer layers and textures. Also, Light as a Feather is a very tonal piece of music, with slow, reoccuring patterns. Many Faced is less tonal, with multiple patterns, all coinciding with each other.

The piece rainy weather peice uses flutes and violins which have a lot of layers and a harmonic progression. Where’s the piece Space uses cellos and piano as its main instrumen. Space is far more tonal than Rainy Weather Piece and uses more effects during the peice. Both sound very abstract and equally as good.

‘Green Desert’ has a strong synth sound that lasts throughout most of the piece, apart from a break at the start where there is silence. Green Desert is slowly built up using synths and then slowly phased out again until it is the original heavy synth. On the other hand ‘Rainy Weather’ uses flutes and violins rather than synths and has a few starting instruments however it does phase out after a while. Both pieces suit the abstract brief however these are two different methods for the brief

Gentle Invasion used many techniques commonly used in abstract music such as tonality in the beginning and a gradual build up of instruments. As it progresses the piece incorporates a dissonant aspect. Similarly, Welcome to the Revolution gradually introduces the different instruments, building up the layers, and then removes them one by one so that a loop effect is created because the piece is the same at the end as it is at the beginning. However, it remains tonal throughout and uses a drum kit to keep a steady beat.

Harpi Funk Drive is a reasonably fast pace piece and it has a recurring motif through out the piece. It builds up to a a point were drums are added. Over all the piece had good consistent feel to it also it had a good build up to were drums were added to the texture.

Space drift

Space Drift has a slow pace but still a very interesting piece. it was also rich in texture and it had long sounds witch gave it a very airy and open feel. Over all the piece was well composed and it was clear a lot of work had been put into it.

The piece ‘many faced’ keeps a solid tempo throughout and never loses time due to the ongoing drum beats. However, the piece changes motif constantly throughout the song. At times the transfer to a different motif is very smooth in the way that different instruments are added to a certain part and then become the only thing played until other layers of sound appear, but at times the transfers weren’t so slick and were really quite random for example the piece starts with several layers of percussion like a samba piece and then very suddenly changes into an electro piece. Overall, the piece was very creative and gave good texture.

In contrast to ‘many faced’, the ‘rainy weather piece’ didn’t contain as many layers only using two instruments (violin and guitar). However, it was much more of an experimental piece using sound effects of rain, this gave a more emotional feel to the piece. the harmonising of the instruments was very tonal and added to the macabre feeling of the piece. It also had a very slow tempo compared to the first piece.

The abstract piece “Many Faced” is built and consists of many overlaying sounds such as a distinctive drum beat and a coming and going synth sound. This creates many layers making the piece more intricate and complex. If we compare this to another abstract piece that runs on different techniques such as ” Its got monks in it” we can clearly see it is played by a piano that is being repeated that makes more of a slow classical sound while using note addition to create more textures throughout.

The two pieces I compared were “Green deserts” and “Light as a feather”. green deserts used more electronic instruments and effects, while light as a feather only used piano and a quiet. Light as a feather was very tonal in the way the piano was played but didn’t have a lot of texture, green deserts started to add instruments and effects through the piece and later removed them at the end.

‘Harpi Funk Drive’ Was very interesting and wild and it had a nice sound. I really like that one.
‘Light as a Feather ‘ Was also very good it was calm but you could really hear what the person was trying to do with the piece.

The piece “Rainy Weather Piece” contrasts between “sci-fi chase”. Rainy weather piece has a more classical sound that as the title implies creates a feeling of rainy weather and uses more classical instruments. It has a gradual crescendo layering instruments starting with a violin . It has a clear motif that repeats throughout the whole piece behind layered chords and other instruments. Where as sci-fi chase has very electronic sounds using pads and synthisizers . It also has a big sound from early on as apose to a gradual crescendo.

Light as a feather is a very gradual song with lots of buildup, each layer is added slowly and this creates a layered effect. Light as a feather also has very tonal chords underlying the entire piece. On the other hand exploring a strange world has all the instruments play simultaneously, each layer sounding very different to the others. It does fade away only to come back again however, showing that the creator has thought about phasing the piece. Both pieces are very tonal and stick to their respective keys however they are also very different at the same time.